Gilbert Burns in staredown with Herles Mão de Ferro at IFN weigh-ins in São Paulo State / Publicity photo
The world lightweight champion in Jiu-Jitsu of 2011 and the man responsible for ironing out the ground games of the athletes under Vitor Belfort’s command on TUF Brazil, Gilbert “Durinho” Burns will be seeing action this coming Friday, June 15, at Ichigeki Fight Night. The fighter will be taking on Herles “Mão de Ferro” (3w, 0l), who didn’t make the 73 kg weight limit for the fight.
“Weigh-ins were yesterday. I hit 72.8 kg, and my opponent was over by five kilos. But I accepted the fight anyway because I feel prepared. He got docked a percentage from his purse,” said Durinho, looking to prove how Jiu-Jitsu is capable of decisively determining the outcome of a fight with a bigger and heavier opponent.
“My game plan is my evolution. I trained a lot of wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu and am working on my standup game a lot, but my objective is the finish. My strategy is to feel comfortable in the fight so I’ll be able to create opportunities and play my game, which is Jiu-Jitsu. I’m going for the tapout, but first I have to box, kick, defend and take it to the ground. That’s what I’m going to do,” he added.
The event is being promoted by karateka Francisco Filho and will feature 12 fights. Vitor Belfort will be attending the event.
Durinho has one MMA fight on his record, when he tapped out José Salgado via rear-naked choke in the first round at an event in Utah, USA, in January 2012.
IFN – Ichigeki Fight Night
Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo
June 15, 2012
Gilbert Durinho vs Herles Mão de Ferro
Andrews Nakahara vs Felipe Pachu
Claudemir de Oliveira vs Fernando Coruja
Rafael Silva vs Paulão Silva
Eder Gama vs Jackson Caveira
Ricardo Fiotão vs Eder Guerreiro
Paulinho Barauna vs Robson Fight Team
Leandro Gigante vs Marcos Gladiador
Danilo Yukata vs Robson Argentino
Claudete Alves vs Raquel Franco
Kevin Furlan vs Guilherme Souza